1. Field of Art
The disclosure relates to the field of electronic communications. More specifically, it relates to sharing voice messages and images amongst a plurality of users.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the past decade, the field of social networking has emerged as a major public phenomenon. While social networks have a broader definition amongst academics, here our interest is in electronic social networking services that facilitate electronic interactions amongst groups of users. Two of the most well known social networks are Twitter and Facebook. Twitter facilitates the distribution of a short message to the followers of the message creator, and, to those who have indicated an interest in the subject matter of the message; it also provides means for creation and reception of the message amongst a plurality of device technologies. Facebook is oriented to sharing information amongst users mutually identified as friends.
The information shared in current social networks is primarily in the form of text and images. These contributions are typically presented on a timeline following a progression from latest to oldest. Further, the contributions may be grouped into a sequence rooted to a single contribution, thus forming a conversation. Extensions have permitted the inclusion of web references and multi-media, through the incorporation of Universal Resource Locators (URLs) and multi-media file links. These extensions present to the user a summary of the linked information and invite the user to select the viewing of the web page or the playback of the multi-media.
More recent commercial offerings such as Snapchat and BlipMe developed richer social networks based on multi-media. Snapchat facilitates the creation of short (approximately 15 second) videos and the sharing of those with selected other users. These users must physically select the video for playback and may view the video only once. More recent functionality allows the editing of multi-media into a composite message (a story). BlipMe offered a point to point click to send/playback audio service (i.e. ‘walkie-talkie’) and a broadcast service where users followed other users and posted audio ‘blips’ heard by all their followers. One review of the later service noted user confusion with the broadcast stream of comments from multiple sources.
Mobility as evidenced by the rise of smartphones, tablets, in-car and wearable devices is of growing importance to consumers, commercial enterprises and government. For the mobile user, activities such as typing text and scrolling and selecting screens demand a level of attention that is difficult to maintain in a complex and dynamic real-world environment. Audio, as evidenced by hands-free cellphone conversations, offers a viable means of social interaction. However, the human capacity for audio information is finite—we have difficulty listening to multiple speakers at the same time and each can only speak so fast to be intelligible.
Voice may play a major role in mobile social networking. Means for sharing involving less mechanical interaction are needed. A mechanism for engaging effectively in multiple on-going conversations while limiting user load is desirable. A mechanism for quickly providing context is needed. The solution should work across a plethora of mobile devices.